Phenolic constituents of licorice. VIII. Structures of glicophenone and glicoisoflavanone, and effects of licorice phenolics on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Two new phenolic compounds, glicophenone (1) and glicoisoflavanone (2), were isolated from commercial licorice, and their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. Antibacterial assays of licorice phenolics for Staphylococcus aureus, including four strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), and also for Escherichia coli K12 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, were then examined. Two compounds among them, 8-(gamma,gamma-dimethylallyl)-wighteone (21) and 3'-(gamma,gamma-dimethylallyl)-kievitone (28), showed remarkable antibacterial effects [minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs), 8 microg/ml on the MRSA strains and methicillin-sensitive S. aureus. Licochalcone A (14), gancaonin G (20), isoangustone A (24), glyasperins C (30) and D (31), glabridin, (32), licoricidin (33), glycycoumarin (34) and licocoumarone (40) showed antibacterial effects on the MRSA strains with MIC values of 16 microg/ml. Effects on the beta-lactam resistance of the MRSA strains were also examined, and licoricidin (33) noticeably decreased the resistance of the MRSA strains against oxacillin, as shown by the reduction in the MICs of oxacillin (lower than 1/128-1/1000 in the presence of 8 microg/ml of 33, and 1/8-1/32 in the presence of 4 microg/ml of 33). Mechanistic study suggested that 33 does not inhibit the formation of penicillin-binding protein 2' (PBP2'), but affects the enzymatic function of PBP2'.     

New functional microspheres with active succinimide groups

Radiation-induced polymerization of monomers, for example N-methacryl-oxysuccinimide (MASu) and diethylene glycol dimethacrylate (2G), in ethyl propionate, was performed from +25°C to –78°C. The copoly (MASu/2G) microspheres were obtained in MASu monomer compositions of 30 wt % or below. The average particle diameter of copoly(MASu/2G, 20/80 wt %) microspheres obtained at irradiation temperatures of 25°, 0°, and –43 °C were 0.81±0.29, 0.63±0.26, and 0.90±0.43 m, respectively. No microspheres were formed when irradiated at –78 °C. The reactivity of the succinimide groups on the surface of copoly(MASu/2G, 20/80 wt%) microspheres was checked by reacting with ethylene diamine. The maximal amount of reacting succinimide groups was 9.4±0.5 nol/g, which corresponds to about 1 % of the total number of succinimide groups in the microsphere.     

Kunzeanones A, B, and C: novel alkylated phloroglucinol metabolites from Kunzea ambigua

Three new metabolites, kunzeanones A (1), B (2), and C (3), along with three known compounds, cryptostrobin (4), (+)-spathulenol (5), and (−)-globulol (6), were isolated from the non-polar fraction of the dried leaves of Kunzea ambigua (Myrtaceae), which shows ichthyotoxicity toward a small fish, medaka. The structures of these new compounds were elucidated as condensates of alkylated phloroglucinol with methylflavanone and germacrane-type sesquiterpene, respectively, on the basis of spectral analyses including 1-D and 2-D NMR spectra. The stereochemistries of kunzeanones A and B were determined by X-ray crystallographic analysis. A sesquiterpene, (+)-spathulenol (5), among the isolates was characterized as the ichthyotoxic principle of the extract.     

一种基于新型小波包阈值的图像去噪方法

提出了一种基于小波包理论去除图像噪声的方法,用小波包把图像分解为高频分量和低频分量,根据高频分量估计噪声的标准差,并利用该标准差以及Birge-Massart惩罚函数计算阈值.鉴于传统软硬阈值的缺陷,采用一种新型阈值量化方法,用三次多项式在硬阈值的基础上插值,使新的阈值函数保持了连续性和可导性.通过这种方法既消除了图像的振铃现象,又保留了细节成分.实验表明：与传统方法相比,新方法使图像视觉效果和峰值信噪比均获得提高.     

Analytic study of power spectra of the tent maps near band-splitting transitions

Successive band-splitting transitions occur in the one-dimensional map x_i+1=g(x_i),i=0, 1, 2,... withg(x)=x, (0 x 1/2) –x +, (1/2 <x 1) as the parameter is changed from 2 to 1. The transition point fromN (=2ⁿ) bands to 2Nbands is given by=(2)^1/N (n=0, 1,2,...). The time-correlation function _i=x_ix₀/(x₀)²,x_i x_i–x_i is studied in terms of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Frobenius-Perron operator of the map. It is shown that, near the transition point=2, _i–[(10–42)/17] _i,0-[(102-8)/51]_i,1 + [(7 + 42)/17](–1)ⁱe^–yi, where2(–2) is the damping constant and vanishes at=2, representing the critical slowing-down. This critical phenomenon is in strong contrast to the topologically invariant quantities, such as the Lyapunov exponent, which do not exhibit any anomaly at=2. The asymptotic expression for _i has been obtained by deriving an analytic form of _i for a sequence of which accumulates to 2 from the above. Near the transition point=(2)^1/N, the damping constant of _i fori N is given by _N=2(^N-2)/N. Numerical calculation is also carried out for arbitrary a and is shown to be consistent with the analytic results.     

Reply to the note on the flow behaviour of combustion gas in the boundary layer of an MHD generator

The temperature profile in Fig. 3 of Ref. 1 is better approximated by a relation for a turbulent boundary layer than a laminar boundary layer. The critical Reynolds number is expected to be lowered in the flow train of MHD combustion gas because of large turbulence in the combustor and by roughness along the duct.     

Localization transition of <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis>-friendly walkers

 Friendly walkers is a stochastic model obtained from independent one-dimensional simple random walks {S ^k _j } _j≥0 , k=1,2,…,d by introducing ``non-crossing condition': and ``reward for collisions' characterized by parameters . Here, the reward for collisions is described as follows. If, at a given time n, a site in ℤ is occupied by exactly m≥2 walkers, then the site increases the probabilistic weight for the walkers by multiplicative factor exp (β _m )≥1. We study the localization transition of this model in terms of the positivity of the free energy and describe the location and the shape of the critical surface in the (d−1)-dimensional space for the parameters . Received: 13 June 2002 / Revised version: 24 August 2002 Published online: 28 March 2003 Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 82B41, 82B26, 82D60, 60G50 Key words or phrases: Random walks – Random surfaces – Lattice animals – Phase transitions – Polymers – Random walks     

A -series identity and the arithmetic of Hurwitz zeta functions

Using a single variable theta identity, which is similar to the Jacobi Triple Product identity, we produce the generating functions for values of certain expressions of Hurwitz zeta functions at non-positive integers.